Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 151 107mm Rocket Launcher, Li Yunlong's Wedding!
The current time is early January of 42. Yamashita Hōichi's regiment is currently resting and preparing in northern Hebei, awaiting orders.

However, the higher-ups of the Osaka Division had already guessed that they would receive notice of transfer to Southeast Asia within two months at most.

That's why the Japanese suddenly started selling bullet production lines, a crucial strategically controlled item.

After the bullet production line and several machine tools were "scrapped," they were successfully transported out of the warehouse and loaded onto a train through the efforts of the Osaka Division Chief of Staff.

Because the Tongpu Railway was destroyed by the Eighth Route Army and is still under repair, this train carrying supplies was transported from the Zhengtai Railway.

The agreed-upon transaction location between Chen Ming and Yamashita Hōichi was a railway line in the eastern section of Shouyang.

Shouyang and Mengxian are where the Independent Detachment started. Back then, a lot of weapons and ammunition were obtained through the Zhengtai Railway.

The place where Yamashita Hōichi made the promise is quite nice.

Chen Ming risked crossing the Tongpu Railway to reach the area north of Shouyang, where he took charge of the transaction.

This was also to prevent the Japanese from breaking their promises and trying to double-cross the troops involved in the transaction.

Chen Ming came in person for two reasons: first, to be in charge of the transaction himself, and second, to use the map to monitor the surrounding area and prevent the Japanese from breaking their promises.

Although the Osaka Division has a good reputation, it is not surprising that they are about to be transferred to Southeast Asia. It is not surprising that they would make a quick buck before leaving.

After all, we won't be in mainland China anymore, so why should we care about the reputation of the mainland?

"Report: No Japanese soldiers have been found lying in ambush within a 20-kilometer radius. Comrades in other areas are also monitoring the Japanese soldiers in various places, and there has been no unusual activity."

On a hilltop, Zhou Weiguo reported to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming possesses a three-dimensional combat map covering an area of ​​twenty kilometers, a fact known only to him.

Although Chen Ming knew that the Japanese had not set up an ambush, the soldiers still had to do the necessary safety work.

"Yes, send someone to insert the token on the railway," Chen Ming said.

"Yes."

Upon receiving the order, Zhou Weiguo instructed his men to place the tokens of the agreed-upon transaction at the designated location.

Once Yamashita Hōichi's men saw it, they would know that the Independent Detachment was ready to make the transaction at the agreed location.

Two hours later, a Japanese train slowly came to a stop about three kilometers from the hilltop.

This is the train that Yamashita Hōichi arranged to transport the production line and machinery.

"General Chen Ming, it's been a long time."

When Chen Ming arrived at the transaction location, Yamashita Hōichi greeted him warmly.

"Colonel Yamashita, it's been a long time. You guys are very trustworthy," Chen Ming said with a smile.

"Of course, that's how we Osaka people do business. If we don't have integrity, we can't do business."

“I brought everything, it’s all on the train. Did you bring the money? Let me make it clear beforehand, we only accept silver dollars or gold. Our Osaka Division will not accept currency issued by your government,” Yamashita Hōichi said.

"Of course, it's all in cash."

Chen Ming clapped his hands, and a mule transport team appeared not far away.

Two hundred thousand silver dollars weigh more than five tons. Transporting them by mule is the most labor-saving method, requiring only some fodder.

When Yamashita Hōichi saw the transport team, he quickly went forward and saw the silver dollars being transported by mules.

He quickly opened the metal strip of the beechwood box and saw the gleaming silver dollars. A greedy smile spread across his face.

One beechwood crate contained 10,000 silver dollars, and there were 20 crates in total on site.

Shang Xia Feng patiently opened and checked each item one by one. After confirming that the number was correct, he leaned close to Chen Ming and whispered:
"Commander Chen Ming, the quantity is not a problem, but the agreed-upon 60,000 silver dollars can be paid later. There will be my superiors supervising on the train. As compensation, I will send you a few more machine tools."

In this transaction, the Osaka Division could not simply leave Yamashita Hōichi to be fully in charge; at the very least, they had to do a good job of supervision.

Otherwise, what if the people below line their own pockets?
"No problem," Chen Ming readily agreed.

If we could acquire more machine tools without spending any money, that would be ideal.

The Eighth Route Army is currently lacking industrial equipment, and every machine tool is extremely precious.

"The count has been completed, and there are no problems with the silver dollars."

After reaching an agreement, Yamashita Hōichi returned to the group and announced loudly.

"Commander Chen Ming, it's your turn to inspect the goods."

Led by Yamashita Hōichi, the experts brought by Chen Ming began to inspect the machine tools transported by the Japanese.

After inspection by experts, the machine tools were found to be fine, but a large amount of explosives were installed on the train and inside the machine tools.

It's likely that the Japanese were also worried about the Independent Detachment double-crossing them, so they made preparations in advance.

After confirming that there were no problems with the goods, Chen Ming smiled and said to Feng Yi at the foot of the mountain:

"No problem, it's a pleasure to work together."

"Pleasant to work with."

After a somewhat tense exchange of goods and money, the Independent Detachment received the machinery and bullets, and Yamashita Hōichi received the agreed-upon 140,000 silver dollars.

As for the remaining 60,000 silver dollars, Chen Ming also sent people to transport it to Fengyi at the foot of the mountain.

"Commander Chen Ming, please let us know if you need anything in the future. As long as you can afford it, our Osaka Division can provide anything, whether it's medicine, machine tools or other supplies."

"As for weapons, we can sell you all weapons except for heavy artillery."

Yamashita Hōichi's smile widened even further.

Having encountered a big client like Chen Ming who is generous with his money, he wanted to make a good profit before the Osaka Division was transferred.

Within the Osaka Division, there is no longer a positive attitude towards the war.

Now they are thinking about what to do if the war is lost.

While you can still do business, make as much money as possible and think about your future.

"Can you sell medicine too? How much can you provide?" Chen Ming asked.

"We can provide as much money as you have!" Yamashita Hōichi said confidently.

Unlike others who faced numerous difficulties smuggling medicines from the Japanese war zone, the Osaka Division, comprised entirely of businessmen, found smuggling medicines relatively easy.

In fact, a considerable portion of the drugs smuggled through the Shanghai-Nanjing border passed through the hands of the Osaka Division.

"Sure, but what about the price?"

"After all, Commander Chen Ming is one of our major clients. In addition to our purchase cost, our Osaka Division only earns a 50% premium from your price."

"After all, our Osaka Division also has to spend money to buy supplies such as medicines, so we can't lower the price any further."

"However, if it's weapons and ammunition that our Osaka Division has its own, we can offer Commander Chen Ming a discounted price, guaranteed to be lower than the market price!" Yamashita Hōichi said enthusiastically.

If a big client who spends 200,000 dollars in one go could come back a few more times, Yamashita Hōichi, as the middleman, could make a fortune.

To increase credibility, Yamashita Hōichi leaned closer to Chen Ming and whispered:
"Commander Chen Ming, to tell you the truth, our Osaka Division may be transferred soon. Although I don't know where we'll be transferred to, it's certain that we'll be transferred. So now is definitely the cheapest time to buy weapons and ammunition."

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised to hear what the other party said.

That old Japanese devil Yamashita Hōichi actually revealed such important military secrets. He's really willing to sell anything for business.

“Sure, I’ll raise the money when I get back, and then we’ll have another chance to trade,” Chen Ming said with a smile.

"Commander Chen Ming, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you." Yamashita Hōichi smiled with narrowed eyes and extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Chen Ming also extended his hand and shook hands with the other party.

After the transaction was completed, Chen Ming led his troops to begin transporting the machine tools.

It's true that transporting this machine tool was quite difficult, but fortunately, the Independent Detachment had a lot of manpower and resources, and in the end, they managed to transport the machine tool back safely.

Accompanying them were technical personnel sent by the Japanese, who were responsible for teaching them how to use the machine tools and related technologies.

Of course, salaries still need to be paid.

After the machine tools were transported to the arsenal, Japanese technicians were responsible for teaching them how to operate them. Of course, the Japanese were placed in a place isolated from the outside world and taught them orally.

The intelligence about the arsenal was top secret. Chen Ming would not let the Japanese know the location of the arsenal. He could only teach the Japanese technicians the technology by verbally describing it and drawing pictures.

After seven days, the machine has been debugged.

"Turn it on!" Chen Ming gave the order.

When the machine started running and produced the first bullet, everyone in the arsenal, including the soldiers, was in a frenzy!
"Great! With this production line, we can produce bullets continuously to fight the Japanese devils!"

"Yes, with every bullet produced, the soldiers stand a little taller!"

"Report this good news to headquarters immediately," Chen Ming ordered happily.

"Yes!"

The messenger excitedly sent a telegram to let the leaders at headquarters know the good news.

After arranging for someone to send the message, Chen Ming looked at the senior technicians at the arsenal, who were high-achieving students who had returned from studying in Germany.

"Engineer Jia, given the current situation, what is the output of the arsenal?"

"Reporting to the commander, the workers are not yet proficient with the machines, and with sufficient raw materials, we can only produce three thousand bullets per day."

"Once the workers are familiar with the machines, we expect production to increase to around 6,000 rounds per day," said the technician known as Engineer Jia.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work. The organization will not forget your contributions. It is because of your efforts behind the scenes that the soldiers can fight the Japanese with more confidence on the front lines," Chen Ming said. "My father told me that every citizen has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation. Contributing to the great cause of the War of Resistance Against Japan is the responsibility and obligation of every Chinese person!" Jia Gong said.

Chen Ming was very pleased to hear the other party's insightful remarks.

As long as everyone is united and works together, how can we not drive out the Japanese invaders and revitalize the Chinese nation?

"Engineer Jia, I'd like to establish a training program for technical personnel. I'd like you to teach and spread knowledge so that more people can acquire it, cultivate more talent, and contribute to the great revolutionary cause. I wonder if you'd be willing?" Chen Ming asked.

Individual strength has its limits. It is difficult to achieve a great revival by relying on just a few technicians. Only when one fire ignites another, spreading into countless sparks, can a greater impact be achieved.

"We are willing, and we guarantee to complete the task!" Engineer Jia said excitedly.

The organization entrusted them with such an important task, which showed their trust in them. Engineer Jia felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and was extremely satisfied.

"By the way, sir, among this batch of machines, there is a lathe, a drilling machine, two milling machines, and a granulator. We can try to make our own guns now," Engineer Jia said happily.

"Really?" Chen Ming asked excitedly.

"That's right. These machine tools already include those for the important steps in gun manufacturing. The other steps can be done by hand by the workers, which will not affect the performance."

"It's a pity we can't build cannons yet, otherwise we could use our own manufactured artillery," Engineer Jia said.

"Great! I'm entrusting this matter entirely to you. Just let me know if you need any materials. Comrade Li Zhu, you'll be responsible for liaising with Comrade Jia and fulfilling all of his requests," Chen Ming said excitedly.

"Yes, mission accomplished!" Li Zhu shouted.

Upon hearing that Engineer Jia couldn't build the cannon, Chen Ming thought for a moment and shared his design concept for the 107mm rocket launcher with the other party.

Although we can't manufacture high-precision cannon barrels right now, we can find another way.

If you can't find artillery that relies on high-pressure launch, you could try building a rocket launcher that relies on its own power to launch.

As long as it can fight the Japanese and suppress them from a distance, it's a good artillery piece!

After communicating with Chen Ming, Engineer Jia was overjoyed. After some mental deduction, he concluded that this weapon was very feasible.

"Reporting to the commander, the weapon you proposed is theoretically feasible, but it still needs to be verified through experiments."

"it is good."

After inspecting the arsenal, Chen Ming also inspected other raw material supplies.

"We must ensure the supply of raw materials to the arsenal so that we can produce more bullets to fight the Japanese devils."

"Yes."

The arsenal is in full swing, and the workers are very enthusiastic.

Watching the bullets being produced one by one on the production line filled them with enthusiasm.

Every bullet produced by the arsenal becomes a weapon that takes the lives of Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.

The workers spontaneously shouted slogans:
"Roll up your sleeves and get to work! The Japanese devils are about to be defeated!"

"A cartload of iron from the rear means less bloodshed on the front!"

"The lathes keep running non-stop, and the front lines keep getting hit."

"The hammer and anvil forged the spirit of resistance against Japan, and the machine tool crushed the hatred of national subjugation!"

In this bustling atmosphere, the arsenal produced goods day and night, with three shifts working non-stop.

This kind of awareness is unparalleled in the world!

Five days later, Chen Ming happily headed to headquarters with the first batch of 30,000 bullets produced.

Looking at the bullets packed in the box, Chen Ming felt a great sense of accomplishment.

These are bullets we produced ourselves, which means we will have a stable supply of ammunition from now on, and we will no longer have to risk our lives for three bullets like Erdan did back then.

The arsenal produces not only bullets, but also the precious lives of countless soldiers!
Headquarters.

The boss's smile never stopped as he looked at the bullets Chen Ming brought, and he kept praising Chen Ming.

When the boss is scolding someone, he can be incredibly harsh, but when he's praising someone, he can also praise them to the skies.

"What is the current bullet production situation?"

"With the workers putting in their full effort, we've already reached a daily output of 6,000 rounds. Once we're more skilled, we expect to reach 8,000 rounds per day, which is 240,000 rounds per month," Chen Ming said with a smile.

The workers' enthusiasm exceeded Chen Ming's expectations, as did Jia Gong's.

They managed to double the output that Jia had projected, producing 30,000 bullets in just five days.

The power of our working people is great!
"Great, great! 24 rounds a month, that's nearly three million rounds a year. This money is well spent," the boss said happily.

"By the way, the Osaka Division said that as long as we have the money, they can sell us medicine at a 50% premium, and the rest of the weapons and ammunition will be cheaper," Chen Ming said.

"Really?"

It should be noted that our army was extremely short of medicines, and many soldiers did not die on the battlefield, but died because of the lack of medicines.

Purchasing a batch of sulfonamides in enemy-occupied territory required crossing several blockade lines, a lifeline opened up at great risk.

On average, each martyr's life was exchanged for about 37.5 yuan worth of medicine, and the value of each bottle of precious medicine far exceeded that of gold!

Moreover, the price is extremely high, reaching several times or even dozens of times the market price.

Now that I've learned that the Japanese are selling medicines at a 50% premium, and that transportation is included, this is undoubtedly great news.

“That’s right. We received information from the Japanese that their Osaka Division will soon be transferred from the mainland battlefield to the Pacific battlefield, so they are trying every means to make one last profit,” Chen Ming said with certainty.

"Yes, I will report this matter. In order to save more soldiers, we will do whatever it takes to buy the medicine."

After concluding his trip to headquarters, Chen Ming returned to his base.

Good news keeps coming one after another.

While Chen Ming was adjusting the strategic deployment of the independent detachment, Li Yunlong, relying on the batch of spoils he had captured, also gained considerable influence.

In the area south of Ping'an County, they managed to assemble six battalions, which, along with the county brigade and district squads, amounted to several thousand troops.

Chen Ming also received an invitation from Li Yunlong, who was getting married to Yang Xiuqin, the director of the Women's Salvation Association.

One is a regimental commander directing battles on the front lines, and the other is an active and progressive individual in the rear—it's definitely a joyous occasion.

Comrade Yang Xiuqin, isn't she better than the petty-bourgeois nurse Tian Yu?

Tian Yu and Li Yunlong are fundamentally different people.

Chen Ming was delighted to receive Li Yunlong's invitation.

"It's a good thing that Comrade Li Yunlong and Comrade Yang Xiuqin are together. I must go and see."

"Da Biao, prepare some gifts for me and come with me to the Independent Regiment."

After all, they had fought the Japanese together on the battlefield, and were both subordinates of the same brigade commander. The two units were stationed next to each other, so Chen Ming had to show his appreciation.

"Yes."

After receiving Chen Ming's instructions, Da Biao went to the warehouse and retrieved five heavy machine guns, ten light machine guns, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and an 82mm mortar.

Nowadays, Chen Ming is wealthy and powerful; he can easily make his brother units overjoyed by simply showing off some weapons and ammunition.

After the weapons were mobilized, Chen Ming signed the document and reported it to the brigade commander to go through the formalities.

The pretext for mobilizing weapons was certainly not to present a congratulatory gift, but rather to provide weapons support to brother units.

The brigade commander smiled at Chen Ming's report.

Last time, he got more than two thousand guns and an artillery battalion from Chen Ming, so he really didn't take this kind of weaponry seriously.

The brigade commander was too lazy to congratulate Li Yunlong on his fortune when he was happy.

After the documents were signed, there were no procedural issues with the transfer of weapons.

Armed with their weapons, Chen Ming, Kong Jie, and Ding Wei led the guards to the Independent Regiment's encampment.

Without the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps this time, the grass on Yamamoto Ichiki's grave must be growing incredibly tall. This time, Li Yunlong died without even having a wedding night or entering the bridal chamber.

Upon arriving at the Independent Regiment, Li Yunlong was overjoyed to see his old comrades-in-arms and Chen Ming. He grinned and greeted them.

Of course, his enthusiasm was definitely not because of the gifts Chen Ming brought, definitely not, Li Yunlong thought to himself.

"Old Li, it's been a few months and you've actually gotten married. I wonder which girl was blinded by love and fell for a penniless guy like you."

"Yeah, you must have been incredibly lucky in your past life. What do you have? You're broke, and as for looks, you're not much to look at. Besides having a loud voice, you don't have any other distinguishing features. Why would any girl be interested in you?"

Ding Wei and Kong Jie joked.

"Haha, that's why I'm so capable! It's because of my loud voice that the girl fell for me, haha!" Li Yunlong, now known as Li the Great, said happily.

Chen Ming sat down with Zhao Gang, and Zhao Gang asked Chen Ming some questions.

Having finally managed to meet Chen Ming once in a while, Zhao Gang had many questions he wanted to ask him.

After all, one was just the political commissar of an independent regiment, while the other was the military commander of an independent detachment and the fourth military district. They were at different levels and had different perspectives.

After being disciplined by Chen Ming last time, Li Yunlong felt somewhat intimidated whenever he saw Chen Ming. Although he didn't feel as uneasy as when he saw a brigade commander or division commander, he was still uneasy.

At the time of Li Yunlong's wedding, Chen Ming decided not to disturb him, so as not to spoil the atmosphere of Li Yunlong's wedding.

P.S.: My defense is tomorrow, and I only have 5600 words left today. Sorry. Also, I recommend a book called "Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling," a near-masterpiece. If you don't like it, come back and scold me.

(End of this chapter)